Time Wasted
by harmonyjp
Summary: WIP. Harry knows Hermione dies but will he be able to live with himself? After receiving a little help he finally makes his mind up and takes control of his life. H/Hr
1. Chapter 1: Thoughts of the Past

**Chapter 1: Thoughts of the past**

Harry James Potter looked out over the Astronomy tower on his 125th birthday and looked back over the last century. After defeating Voldemort he had stood alongside Hermione and Ron as they all received Order of Merlins for ending the second War. Of course Harry received an Order of Merlin First Class whilst his best friends received Second Class Order of Merlins.

- Flashback -

During the final battle Ron plucked up enough courage to kiss Hermione and they began dating soon after. They did try to hide it from Harry initially until he told them he was aware of it and was happy for them. At least that is what he told his best friends. Little did they know how much he was screaming inside. When they announced their engagement later that same year he spoke to Ginny and they picked up their relationship where they left off at Bill and Fleur's wedding.

Try as they might to make it work, Ginny and Harry separated mutually as friends after a year and she went on to marry Neville 3 years later. At the birth of Hugo Weasley, Harry was named the boy's godfather and swore to himself that he would be there for the boy and not let grief take over him like it had taken over Sirius all those years ago. Not that he blamed Sirius, after all there was a conspiracy led by Albus "untouchable" Dumbledore to make Harry dependent on him.

As the years went on Harry became an honorary uncle to 15 Weasleys as Hugo was joined by Daniel Fred Weasley and Emma Molly Weasley as siblings whilst he had no shortage of cousins. One by one they all made their way into the hallowed halls of Hogwarts where Harry had given in to Professor McGonagall's repeated requests that he consider becoming Defence Against the Dark Arts professor.

As DADA professor and then later on as Head of Gryffindor House, he spent time with all his students making him the most popular teacher in the school. For once, he enjoyed his fame within the school, not because he was the Boy-who-lived or even the Man-who-conquered, nope it was purely because he fostered the students and helped them in any subject they wanted help in, not just DADA.

Upon becoming Headmaster of Hogwarts at the age of 38, the youngest in the history of the school following the death of Minerva McGonagall, he set his plans in motion which saw the whole of Magical Britain change forever. He set about hiring staff that he knew from his days in the Order of the Phoenix. With new staff, the whole school started to improve, allowing it to compete with other schools worldwide, including Salem Academy in America and Beauxbatons in France. During one of his weekly conversations with the school even Lady Hogwarts commented on it being the happiest she had ever known the students within her walls to be during the castle's long history. This made Harry literally glow with pride for months until he learned of the death of his beloved Hermione.

To say her funeral was popular would be an understatement. Her role in the defeat of Voldemort and her research ever since had made her one of the most popular witches around the world. Harry only really turned up to such a reflective atmosphere to show face. The only things he noticed about the surroundings were Ron being supported by Bill and Charlie and the fact it was a Muggle-style service in the graveyard at Godric's Hollow. Harry spent most of the time wishing he could just be alone to grieve and not have to attend the funeral as it only brought back memories of her that he wished he could swap just to have her back in life. He would always remember the moment she died. It was a muggle car crash where a lorry had slid across the motorway in the awful weather and Harry has just collapsed. After the school healer being summoned by a portrait of a former Headmaster, he was brought back to consciousness. When asked what had caused the collapse, he simply answered that he had felt Hermione's fright and death and that caused his heart to just stop for a moment.

It took the Aurors 2 days to find any news on the accident that had claimed Hermione's life. But that was only the first of many agonising days to come as Harry suddenly started receiving letters of condolence on the fate of his best friend. If only they knew his true feelings for her.

- end flashback –

Harry slowly made his way back to his office, treading the familiar route that he walked every night when he wanted to come to somewhere to reflect on things. When he reached his bed he slowly drifted off to sleep wishing more than anything to still have Hermione around.


	2. Chapter 2: Am I Dreaming?

Chapter 2: Am I dreaming?

As the mist started to clear, Harry noticed that he wasn't in any room that he knew. All he could see around him was white. No walls, no ceiling. Just white. If it wasn't for his gut instinct telling him he was safe here, he would have drawn his wand by now. Instead he got up and noticed that his body was a lot younger than when he went to bed. Upon seeing a mirror nearby he decided to look into it and was shocked to see that is infamous scar was no more. Yes, he still had those piercing emerald eyes and ever-messy jet black hair, but no lightning shaped scar. What was going on here!

"Harry!" came the voice from a distance as it approached him.

Harry whipped round and almost fell over in shock. There standing before him was a woman with red hair that looked familiar to pictures he had seen. It wasn't until he noticed her eyes that he realised who it was.

"Mum?"

"Yes dear, it's me." That's all it took for Harry to join Lily Potter in a hug and shed tears for the first time since he was 4.

"There's no time like the present to let your emotions go. Don't worry, we are in no hurry to go anywhere son" James spoke from behind Lily.

"Harry?" Came a worried voice that he would recognise anywhere.

"Her-Her-mione!" He choked out between sobs.

"Yes it's me. Don't worry, I will always be with you." She whispered whilst joining his mum in stroking his hair.

"Where are we?"

"Somewhere in your mind. Or rather a place where your mind feels safe" responded James.

"So am I dead?"

"Not quite" Lily replied. That shocked Harry and it showed. "There has been so much that has been affected in the world, but with your death, there will be no peace for over a millennium, if ever. You see, ever since you defeated Voldemort, all his Death Eaters decided to hide and train their children and grandchildren in their ways. They knew that you are no Flammel and that you wouldn't live forever so they decided to bide their time."

Harry was now too stunned to speak. Apparently all that hard work teaching at Hogwarts was for nothing. Didn't that just make him feel useless, knowing that he had wasted all those years of his life. He slumped his shoulders in defeat.

Lily and James spotted this change in Harry's posture but were not the first to act on it. Hermione just grabbed hold of Harry as he set about crying again. But this time he took in her scent as well. Slowly he came back around and looked at his parents as if asking for something that would allow him to get some glimmer of hope.

"Don't worry, there is some hope but the fate of the world does rest upon this decision, so no pressure!"

"James! This is far too serious for you to start joking about!"

A chastised James carried on. "You should have been told many things. First of all that we made a will. Had you heard the will, then you would know that we had made arrangements with several friends of ours to take you in and that you should never have gone to Vernon and Petunia under any circumstance. Also, you should have received your ring to indicate that you are Scion to the Most Noble and Ancient House of Potter on your 11th birthday and that you would become emancipated on your 13th birthday in the magical world as per our wishes. This means you would have become Lord of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Potter, Lord of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Hufflepuff, Lord of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Ravenclaw, Lord of the Ancient House of Slytherin and finally Duke of Gryffindor. In effect you would control 20 seats on the Wizengamot, have the power to reinstate former families that lost their seat due to being unable to pay for the seating fees whenever the century changed, 12 vaults in Gringotts. In short you would be one of the wealthiest people in Britain if not the world, far surpassing that of families like the Malfoys."

"Why did nobody tell me of this? Why did Gringotts never tell me? Why did Hermione never mention anything?" said an increasingly irritated Harry. All Hermione could do was blush. Lily rested her hand on her son's shoulder which seemed to calm him for now.

Hermione decided to start first. "You know how much time I spent in the library. I think I _may_ have read every book in there over the years but I don't recall seeing any books about the founders or and on family history or linage. I did look because I was interested to see what rights families like the Malfoys have over muggleborns like myself."

"THAT BASTARD!" screeched James and Lily in perfect unison. Harry and Hermione both jumped back at this outburst.

Seeing their frightened looks Lily decided to fill them both in. "There should have been a book on each of the founders and a book about Hogwarts heirs in the History section and several books on pureblood law, the Wizengamot and the International Confederation of Wizards in the Law section. These were the books I read during my fourth year after James started to become a pest as I wanted to see what right he had to keep annoying me and if there was anything I could do about it."

"Fourth year? Took you that long to find my irritating? Wow! Mind you, look where it got you, married with the best son a parent could ask for." James responded with the famous Potter lopsided grin.

"Hey! That is the time when you first started to take notice of me and start following me everywhere!" Lily retorted.

"What about Gringotts?" asked Harry, who secretly enjoyed watching the byplay between his parents, something that he never got to experience in life, but he was in need of answers.

"We think that Albus had a Goblin working for him and therefore betraying the Goblin nation. All your mail was being diverted to him due to a redirection spell he cast on you as a toddler the night we died in Godric's Hollow. The problem was not helped on your 11th birthday when Hagrid took you there as Dumbledore has gained Hagrid's trust to the point where he just has blind faith in the old man. From what we can tell, Hagrid was only told to get you for your school supplies and therefore act as the person who rescued you from the Dursleys. Dumbledore knew that you would always look favourably on the person that got you out of that house which is why he sent Hagrid. Any other muggle-raised or muggleborn student got a visit from the deputy headmistress as per the Hogwarts by-laws. Mind you, you can't blame Hagrid for not knowing about your other vaults in Gringott's as Dumbledore would have told him only about your Trust account and provide him with the key that you saw on your 11th birthday."

"Ok, I suppose I can't blame Hagrid, but what about all the times since then that I visited as an adult?" To which he received a bemused expression from both of his parents.

"Another topic we should come to is why you felt Hermione's terror and knew of her death before anyone else. Am I right?" quizzed James.

"Yes, I was always curious about that. I just didn't dwell on it too much as it brought back painful thoughts of Hermione."

"Ok, well the first thing we should tell you is that you are soul-mates and that you should have come together at the start of your fourth year. You both grew especially close in the period between Sirius' rescue and the first task of the Tri-Wizard tournament. Had you both kissed each other at that point, you would have been married as a soul-bond transcends time and is often between people that fate believes are best matched together so that as a couple you balance each other out. We believe that there was a compulsion charm used on Hermione so that she would not become too close to you and would instead help you by finding another partner for you."

This caused Hermione to break down in tears. Harry decided to scoot over and pull her into his embrace and give as much comfort as he could. "But why?" was all she managed to choke out after a while.

"Because, and we can only guess here, but we think it is because he could see you were both becoming close to becoming a couple. We believe he was aware, or at least figured out, that you are soul mates and that is what caused him to place the compulsion charm. By becoming married, Harry, you would have become emancipated and possibly received a notification of Gringotts. Also by becoming emancipated, you would have broken free of all the monitoring, tracking ad redirection charms that Dumbledore put on you as a baby. If you received a notification from Gringotts and the Ministry, your wand will have had its underage magic tracking charms lifted and you would have received a list requesting you to notify them of which hereditary property you would take as more main residence. Along with this would have been a letter from the office of Wizengamot counsellor responsible for ensuring all hereditary seats were passed on properly. He would have received a notice that a new member was eligible and for what seats he or she could assume. He would have sent you out a notice requesting you to elect to take control of these seats (including a list of all seats you are responsible for) or ask you to nominate a proxy to hold those seats for you. Unfortunately for you, Dumbledore has held those proxies since our deaths. Upon his death, as last of the Dumbledore line, there was no record of who to pass the voting rights on to. As you were also considered a minor and still had all his charms covering you, the office didn't realise there was an eligible person. As such, the seats have been dormant since his death."

"So basically Dumbledore couldn't stop himself in his bid for power?" asked a stunned Harry.

**A/N: Thank you for the great reviews of Chapter 1. Sorry about the delay in getting this chapter up. I am now doing shift work alternating day and nights so finiding time is harder than I thought. I will put up part 2 to this chapter as soon as I can. I thought I would post what I had so far so you all had something to enjoy in the meantime.**


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